June 23, 2025 • 10 mins
U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Bruce Murray along with Dave Johnson discuss USMNT a year our from the World Cup. Plus, the Club World Cup and D.C. United's needed reboot.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here we go, Here we go, Dave John Salo and
Bruce Murray. It's another edition of First eleven. Yes, your
connection with d C and I and old things soccer
as always. You can connect with us at Dave J
Sports or at Bruce Murray h oof and tell your
friends about First eleven. It's available wherever you get your podcasts,
including iHeart Spotify. You know the deal, You get the
(00:20):
podcast and we appreciate the interaction on First eleven. And
we'll do this in eleven minutes or less. Yes, it's
an off week for d C and IED. I know
you could say last week was an off week, the
two nothing loss to Reale Solake. We will touch on
DC United in a moment right now. A lot going on.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Gold Cup, Club World Cup. Could Billy say that Club
World Cup? Let me say that.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Again, the Gold Cup the United States.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
So far, so good in terms of results.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Bruce Murray, it's hard to get excited about this team
with the qualification that you understand this is not going
to be the team that will represent the Tree next
year at the World Cup.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Having said that, they need to get in gear.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
They do. Dave again, I won't apologize. Real quick up run.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I think I've got some type of allergies today. But
I sound a little bit like Daffy Duck, so I
apologize for that. But uh, yeah, they they they didn't
look good last night and and you know, they didn't
look sharp. And and again part of that is there's
a lot of substitutions and there's new different rules in
this competition. But I'd like to see him, uh, put
(01:29):
some guys together and just go with the go with
that group. And don't you know, there's just too many
people and you know, when you're it's almost like line
changes in hockey. It just it just kills the game.
And I'm not I'm not impressed with with what he's
doing right now. I don't know what he's doing. You know,
some some of the younger players have have shown me
(01:50):
a little bit, but it's just not a team right now.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Uh you know.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
And I'm not trying to go down the landa Donovan
route and bash the team and everything. I'm just saying
this team, and he does say the right thing that
this team, particularly the way they're playing right now, they're
not gonna They're not gonna be very successful unless they
get in gear. And that's what you said, they got
to get in gear.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
And when I say getting gear, I also think between
now and again, I'm like you. I think it's you
don't push the World Cup is what it's all about.
It's with all due respect to the Gold Cup or
anything else, and especially with it being in our country
are in North America, obviously sharing with Canada and Mexico.
(02:34):
But I think about the teams you played on, and
there just seemed to be more personality or or something
you could certainly argue successfully. Look, we've got players playing
all over the world now, which was not the case
in nineteen ninety and ninety four.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And you know, back when you were.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
At the US National TV, guys often met at the
airport and almost was like you were. You were free
wheeling and freelancing. Or maybe I'm overstating that. So I
almost think we're overthinking soccer.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I agree with you. I agree with you one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Uh we actually, uh we did meet at airports and
we we you know, we had training camps all all
all the time, and the travel was insane because uh,
players weren't playing on club teams in Europe. So uh,
you know, you get coaches like Bob Gamzerbora when we
were in Japan one day, we were at Spain the
next and next, and then you know, you're you're looking
at the Kremlin literally from your hotel room. I mean,
(03:31):
you know, it was it was such a crazy schedule
and we had to go places to get big games.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
What what?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
What?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
What I see? Uh, Dave?
Speaker 4 (03:42):
And I've I've told a lot of people this and
some people agree, some don't.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
But I don't see I don't see a team.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
I watched Canada play and I feel like I feel
like I watched some of those players and they are
willing to die drop for their country right on the field.
And I just feel that we're just kind of playing
safe right now because you Polchaccino. You know, he's a
new coach. You know, if I don't make mistakes, well, hell,
I'm in good shape. Well that's not really how it works, man.
(04:12):
You got to take risk in this game. If you
want to be at the top, you have to take risk.
And that is what I do not see out on
the field right now.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
And it's funny you mentioned or interesting you mentioned Canada
because the way they responded against Honduras it seemed like
a team that remembered previous matches was going to be
come with the conviction and no doubt about that result.
It was, you know, over after the starting whistle. It
(04:43):
seemed also I think the Canadian dynamic Jesse Marsh, you know,
even though he will be going against his own country
in the United States, I feel that's motivating him.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Some I agree with you. Jesse Marsh got looked over
on this job, and I personally thought he would have
been a good pick because I saw a video a
couple of years back where Salisburg played or I think
it was Salzburg with the team he was with in
Austria and it was halftime against Liverpool and they're getting
spanked and he's like, he went off on the team.
(05:17):
I watched him go off and he got those guys motivated.
He talked about like they put their pants on just
like you do, right, you know, go out there and
stop showing so much respect. And when I heard that speech,
I said to myself, I could play for this guy.
I could really play for Jesse Marsh.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, I tell you, I remember when he was still playing.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I spent I believe it or not, a morning with
him in a bar in Milwaukee watching English Premier League games.
His brother had an arsenal bar probably still does in Milwaukee,
and at the time he was talking with Peter Wilt,
a great soccer executive. Even though he was playing, you
(05:59):
could tell his past was coaching and he's certainly lived
up to that passion club World Cup.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
You have fan mixed reviews. Do you know what to
make of it.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
I'm a fan in the sense that that I like
the fact that they do this now and it kind
of but the way it's the way the teams that
are involved, the way they picked the teams, and or
Miami that was a very suspicious entry, you know, I
don't know. It's one of these things, Dave, where there's
(06:31):
so many competitions going on right now. The attendance is terrible,
you know, and the ticket sales are poor. You know,
people in the Gold Cup you watched the stadium last night,
they're not going to pay you know, three figure, not
gonna pay over one hundred dollars for tickets. You know,
It's it's gotten to the point where US Soccer are
(06:53):
they pricing themselves out of I mean, I cannot believe
what I saw last night. I mean, for a Gold
Cup game, even though it was an invited guest Saudi Arabia.
I just couldn't believe that the stadium was half empty.
And that's never been the case. When I played, we
always played man and every national team was a big deal.
If we were in Chicago playing Poland, there'd be sixty
(07:16):
thousand people, you know, if we're in New York City
we're playing Italy, there'd be eighty two thousand people. I
just don't I think this is the pricing or whatever's
going on and US soccer. It's got to change. You know,
the economics of it don't work well.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And you know, frankly, I don't think the market dictates things.
And you know, this is where this team needs to
It can't just show up and where the US colors.
This team has not captured the attention of the now
more discerning American soccer public. And I think that's reflected
(07:51):
in attendance now in the Club World Cup. It should
be noted some of the attendancies are great. It's where
it's been poor is places. You know, they had a
South Korean Tina, a South African team taking you know,
going against each other in Orlando. To me, that you know,
you put a South Korean team in a market like
Los Angeles, she would probably do better because there's more
(08:12):
of a Korean population. But that I think that's just
reflection that the big clubs are like they do always
attract the fans, the clubs people don't know about. It's
not to the point where you're going to show up
just because they're in the Club World Cup. Let's get
to DC United. You know, I don't think in eleven
(08:33):
minutes or last week we can correct things. One thing though,
this team did need this break to reboot.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
Yeah, uh, you know Christian bent tech A. You know,
no matter what we said about how we wanted to
play this year, it's always going.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
To go through Christian min Techy.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
I mean, I'm not saying it's going to go up
in the air and he's going to be heading the
ball all the time.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
He he everything's going to go through Christian min tech A. Uh.
You know we've been playing with Jacob murle top.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
He's not getting the help necessary and he's playing out
of position. We both know that, and all the fans
that hear this know that. But I did a little math,
and there's forty five points to play for and twenty
three Dave would have gotten this in the playoffs last year.
So can we get twenty three points out of forty five?
(09:24):
And that's going to take a real you know, get
revitalization of the squad because that game against Salt Lake
was a terrible game. I mean, we did not play well.
There was no impetus of the game, there was no
desperation in the way we played.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And that's what we have to.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Have right now because again, like I said, twenty three
points should see us through, and there's forty five to
play for.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
All right, the points are out there, but they have
to play with purpose to get him First eleven. As always,
we appreciate time. We will be with you June twenty eighth.
That's our next match on iHeartRadio. You can sync with
Apple TV for now in eleven minutes or less. We
thank you for listening to First eleven.
Here we go, Here we go, Dave John Salo and
Bruce Murray. It's another edition of First eleven. Yes, your
connection with d C and I and old things soccer
as always. You can connect with us at Dave J
Sports or at Bruce Murray h oof and tell your
friends about First eleven. It's available wherever you get your podcasts,
including iHeart Spotify. You know the deal, You get the
(00:20):
podcast and we appreciate the interaction on First eleven. And
we'll do this in eleven minutes or less. Yes, it's
an off week for d C and IED. I know
you could say last week was an off week, the
two nothing loss to Reale Solake. We will touch on
DC United in a moment right now. A lot going on.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Gold Cup, Club World Cup. Could Billy say that Club
World Cup? Let me say that.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Again, the Gold Cup the United States.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
So far, so good in terms of results.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Bruce Murray, it's hard to get excited about this team
with the qualification that you understand this is not going
to be the team that will represent the Tree next
year at the World Cup.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Having said that, they need to get in gear.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
They do. Dave again, I won't apologize. Real quick up run.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
I think I've got some type of allergies today. But
I sound a little bit like Daffy Duck, so I
apologize for that. But uh, yeah, they they they didn't
look good last night and and you know, they didn't
look sharp. And and again part of that is there's
a lot of substitutions and there's new different rules in
this competition. But I'd like to see him, uh, put
(01:29):
some guys together and just go with the go with
that group. And don't you know, there's just too many
people and you know, when you're it's almost like line
changes in hockey. It just it just kills the game.
And I'm not I'm not impressed with with what he's
doing right now. I don't know what he's doing. You know,
some some of the younger players have have shown me
(01:50):
a little bit, but it's just not a team right now.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Uh you know.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
And I'm not trying to go down the landa Donovan
route and bash the team and everything. I'm just saying
this team, and he does say the right thing that
this team, particularly the way they're playing right now, they're
not gonna They're not gonna be very successful unless they
get in gear. And that's what you said, they got
to get in gear.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
And when I say getting gear, I also think between
now and again, I'm like you. I think it's you
don't push the World Cup is what it's all about.
It's with all due respect to the Gold Cup or
anything else, and especially with it being in our country
are in North America, obviously sharing with Canada and Mexico.
(02:34):
But I think about the teams you played on, and
there just seemed to be more personality or or something
you could certainly argue successfully. Look, we've got players playing
all over the world now, which was not the case
in nineteen ninety and ninety four.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
And you know, back when you were.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
At the US National TV, guys often met at the
airport and almost was like you were. You were free
wheeling and freelancing. Or maybe I'm overstating that. So I
almost think we're overthinking soccer.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I agree with you. I agree with you one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Uh we actually, uh we did meet at airports and
we we you know, we had training camps all all
all the time, and the travel was insane because uh,
players weren't playing on club teams in Europe. So uh,
you know, you get coaches like Bob Gamzerbora when we
were in Japan one day, we were at Spain the
next and next, and then you know, you're you're looking
at the Kremlin literally from your hotel room. I mean,
(03:31):
you know, it was it was such a crazy schedule
and we had to go places to get big games.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
What what?
Speaker 2 (03:39):
What?
Speaker 3 (03:40):
What I see? Uh, Dave?
Speaker 4 (03:42):
And I've I've told a lot of people this and
some people agree, some don't.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
But I don't see I don't see a team.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
I watched Canada play and I feel like I feel
like I watched some of those players and they are
willing to die drop for their country right on the field.
And I just feel that we're just kind of playing
safe right now because you Polchaccino. You know, he's a
new coach. You know, if I don't make mistakes, well, hell,
I'm in good shape. Well that's not really how it works, man.
(04:12):
You got to take risk in this game. If you
want to be at the top, you have to take risk.
And that is what I do not see out on
the field right now.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
And it's funny you mentioned or interesting you mentioned Canada
because the way they responded against Honduras it seemed like
a team that remembered previous matches was going to be
come with the conviction and no doubt about that result.
It was, you know, over after the starting whistle. It
(04:43):
seemed also I think the Canadian dynamic Jesse Marsh, you know,
even though he will be going against his own country
in the United States, I feel that's motivating him.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Some I agree with you. Jesse Marsh got looked over
on this job, and I personally thought he would have
been a good pick because I saw a video a
couple of years back where Salisburg played or I think
it was Salzburg with the team he was with in
Austria and it was halftime against Liverpool and they're getting
spanked and he's like, he went off on the team.
(05:17):
I watched him go off and he got those guys motivated.
He talked about like they put their pants on just
like you do, right, you know, go out there and
stop showing so much respect. And when I heard that speech,
I said to myself, I could play for this guy.
I could really play for Jesse Marsh.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Well, I tell you, I remember when he was still playing.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
I spent I believe it or not, a morning with
him in a bar in Milwaukee watching English Premier League games.
His brother had an arsenal bar probably still does in Milwaukee,
and at the time he was talking with Peter Wilt,
a great soccer executive. Even though he was playing, you
(05:59):
could tell his past was coaching and he's certainly lived
up to that passion club World Cup.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
You have fan mixed reviews. Do you know what to
make of it.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
I'm a fan in the sense that that I like
the fact that they do this now and it kind
of but the way it's the way the teams that
are involved, the way they picked the teams, and or
Miami that was a very suspicious entry, you know, I
don't know. It's one of these things, Dave, where there's
(06:31):
so many competitions going on right now. The attendance is terrible,
you know, and the ticket sales are poor. You know,
people in the Gold Cup you watched the stadium last night,
they're not going to pay you know, three figure, not
gonna pay over one hundred dollars for tickets. You know,
It's it's gotten to the point where US Soccer are
(06:53):
they pricing themselves out of I mean, I cannot believe
what I saw last night. I mean, for a Gold
Cup game, even though it was an invited guest Saudi Arabia.
I just couldn't believe that the stadium was half empty.
And that's never been the case. When I played, we
always played man and every national team was a big deal.
If we were in Chicago playing Poland, there'd be sixty
(07:16):
thousand people, you know, if we're in New York City
we're playing Italy, there'd be eighty two thousand people. I
just don't I think this is the pricing or whatever's
going on and US soccer. It's got to change. You know,
the economics of it don't work well.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And you know, frankly, I don't think the market dictates things.
And you know, this is where this team needs to
It can't just show up and where the US colors.
This team has not captured the attention of the now
more discerning American soccer public. And I think that's reflected
(07:51):
in attendance now in the Club World Cup. It should
be noted some of the attendancies are great. It's where
it's been poor is places. You know, they had a
South Korean Tina, a South African team taking you know,
going against each other in Orlando. To me, that you know,
you put a South Korean team in a market like
Los Angeles, she would probably do better because there's more
(08:12):
of a Korean population. But that I think that's just
reflection that the big clubs are like they do always
attract the fans, the clubs people don't know about. It's
not to the point where you're going to show up
just because they're in the Club World Cup. Let's get
to DC United. You know, I don't think in eleven
(08:33):
minutes or last week we can correct things. One thing though,
this team did need this break to reboot.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
Yeah, uh, you know Christian bent tech A. You know,
no matter what we said about how we wanted to
play this year, it's always going.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
To go through Christian min Techy.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
I mean, I'm not saying it's going to go up
in the air and he's going to be heading the
ball all the time.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
He he everything's going to go through Christian min tech A. Uh.
You know we've been playing with Jacob murle top.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
He's not getting the help necessary and he's playing out
of position. We both know that, and all the fans
that hear this know that. But I did a little math,
and there's forty five points to play for and twenty
three Dave would have gotten this in the playoffs last year.
So can we get twenty three points out of forty five?
(09:24):
And that's going to take a real you know, get
revitalization of the squad because that game against Salt Lake
was a terrible game. I mean, we did not play well.
There was no impetus of the game, there was no
desperation in the way we played.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
And that's what we have to.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Have right now because again, like I said, twenty three
points should see us through, and there's forty five to
play for.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
All right, the points are out there, but they have
to play with purpose to get him First eleven. As always,
we appreciate time. We will be with you June twenty eighth.
That's our next match on iHeartRadio. You can sync with
Apple TV for now in eleven minutes or less. We
thank you for listening to First eleven.
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